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I dug up these photos the other night after realizing that I had completely forgotten about them. This was from our last camping trip of the year to celebrate Labor Day Weekend and the end of summer [we even got rained on in the middle of the night – Mother Nature wanted to make it official].

Blue Lake was a magical place and easily became one of my top favorite camping spots. Completely secluded, turquoise waters, and an abandoned rowboat! [I’m not going to say much else, in my effort to keep this place a secret. Google Maps has two “Blue Lakes” in Colorado, so you have a 50/50 chance of getting to the right one]. Gather some good friends, beers, and a couple of paddles, what more could you need?

Do you want to know how I spent my first weekend back from Peru? Ideally it would have been sleeping in, cuddling with my 115lb puppy, boozy brunch and maybe some Pinterest DIY projects to fill the afternoon. Nope. Peru changed things. Talia and I talked about how great we felt after the trek [because 4 days of vigorous hiking was the most progress my body has seen in YEARS] and we wanted to keep it up. So we woke up early again and did the Manitou Incline. Along with my fiance and friend Renae.

I’ll give you the nitty gritty. The Manitou Incline is a 1-mile ascend with 41% incline [68% at its highest] and you climb 2,000 feet in elevation. Did I mention the incline consists of 2,744 steps? Locals call it the “holy grail of cardio”. This was actually my second time hiking Manitou [I hiked it right before Peru to “train”] and I have to admit, it was a lot harder the second time. I struggled. But in my defense, I was getting over a cold and I couldn’t breathe out of one nostril, which is essential if you’re climbing in thin air!

Hiking seems to be my thing lately. But winter is coming, which means no hiking for a while. So with the temperature dropping and a waistline expanding, I’ll have to find other ways to keep it up.

My friend and I were wondering the other day if people in other countries go camping like we do. I kind of doubt it. I heard that they don’t. The concept is quite silly if you think about it. We willingly choose to spend a couple of weekend/vacation days sleeping on the ground outside, peeing in the woods, eating food out of a can, waking up freezing, and having to live without the comfort of our A/C and precious technology. What a nightmare! Just kidding – I dig it.

Labor Day weekend was spent in the woods. Actually, I felt like we were above the woods. We were nestled on top of rolling hills in [insert town name here]… I have no idea where we were honestly. But it was one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever camped at. Endless views, no one in sight, and perfect September skies. I wish I captured more photos of the sunset. Even looking back on these photos now, there’s a twinge of, “damn! I should have spent less time eating and more time snapping photos!”

It was a perfect September weekend. If this is the last camping trip of the summer, I’ll be okay with that. [actually, in 2 weeks, I’ll be camping for 4 days in a row while trekking through Machu Picchu! eek!!] But, I must say, I will be anxiously waiting for next summer to come along. I love the free-spirited way of life, music playing as loud as we like, and doing yoga in the middle of the road while the sun sets. I’m already nostalgic – excuse me while build a fire for no reason and punch ‘acoustic country’ into Pandora while sipping hot chocolate… I’m in heaven.